PMA Graduate Course English Syllabus

English syllabus — full chapter and topic list

Expand any chapter to see its topics and sub-topics. This is the whole examinable outline for English in PMA Graduate Course, not a summary of it.

1. 1

   Grammar

   4 topics

   • Parts of Speech
   • Tenses
   • Subject-Verb Agreement
   • Articles and Prepositions
2. 2

   Sentence Correction

   2 topics

   • Error Identification
   • Sentence Improvement
3. 3

   Vocabulary Usage

   3 topics

   • Idioms and Phrases
   • One Word Substitution
   • Confusing Word Pairs
4. 4

   Active and Passive Voice

   1 topic

   • Voice Conversion
5. 5

   Direct and Indirect Speech

   1 topic

   • Narration Conversion
6. 6

   Reading Comprehension

   2 topics

   • Passage Analysis
   • Inference Questions

English flashcards for PMA Graduate Course

23 of 53 cards from the English deck — real questions with worked answers.

1. What are the eight parts of speech in English?

   Noun, Pronoun, Verb, Adjective, Adverb, Preposition, Conjunction, and Interjection.

2. What is the difference between a common noun and a proper noun?

   A common noun names a general person, place, or thing (e.g., city, boy) and is not capitalized; a proper noun names a specific one (e.g., Lahore, Ahmed) and is always capitalized.

3. What are the four classifications of nouns besides common and proper?

   Collective (e.g., team), Abstract (e.g., honesty), Concrete (e.g., stone), and Material (e.g., gold) nouns.

4. What is the function of an adverb, and what four questions can it answer?

   An adverb modifies a verb, adjective, or another adverb. It answers How? When? Where? and To what extent? (how much/often).

5. What is the difference between a coordinating and a subordinating conjunction?

   A coordinating conjunction (and, but, or, nor, for, yet, so) joins equal-rank elements; a subordinating conjunction (because, although, if, when) joins a dependent clause to an independent clause.

6. List the three degrees of comparison of adjectives with an example.

   Positive (tall), Comparative (taller), and Superlative (tallest).

7. What are the twelve tenses in English (three times x four aspects)?

   Present/Past/Future, each in Simple, Continuous (Progressive), Perfect, and Perfect Continuous forms.

8. What is the structure of the Present Perfect tense?

   Subject + has/have + past participle (V3). Example: She has finished the work.

9. What is the structure of the Past Perfect Continuous tense?

   Subject + had been + verb-ing + (since/for + time). Example: He had been working for two hours.

10. Which tense uses 'will have been + verb-ing' and what does it express?

    The Future Perfect Continuous tense; it expresses an action that will continue up to a point in the future. Example: By May, I will have been living here for ten years.

11. Which time expressions typically signal the Simple Present tense?

    Always, usually, often, sometimes, every day, daily, generally, never, seldom (habits and universal truths).

12. What is the basic rule of Subject-Verb Agreement?

    A singular subject takes a singular verb, and a plural subject takes a plural verb. Example: He runs; They run.

13. When two singular subjects are joined by 'and', is the verb singular or plural? Give the exception.

    Plural (e.g., Ali and Sara are here). Exception: if the two nouns refer to one person or one idea, the verb is singular (e.g., Bread and butter is my breakfast).

14. With 'either...or' / 'neither...nor', which subject decides the verb?

    The verb agrees with the subject nearer to it (the proximity rule). Example: Neither the boys nor the teacher was present.

15. Do 'each', 'every', 'everyone', 'somebody', and 'none' take singular or plural verbs?

    Singular. Example: Each of the students is ready; Everyone has arrived.

16. Is the verb singular or plural with collective nouns and with 'a number of' vs 'the number of'?

    Collective nouns usually take a singular verb (acting as a unit). 'A number of' takes a plural verb; 'The number of' takes a singular verb.

17. What are the three articles, and which are definite vs indefinite?

    A and An are indefinite articles; The is the definite article.

18. When is 'a' used versus 'an'?

    'A' precedes words beginning with a consonant sound (a university, a one-rupee coin); 'an' precedes words beginning with a vowel sound (an hour, an MBA).

19. Give three cases where the definite article 'the' is required.

    Before unique things (the sun, the moon), before superlatives (the best), and before rivers, seas, oceans, and mountain ranges (the Indus, the Himalayas).

20. What is the difference between the prepositions 'in', 'on', and 'at' for time?

    'In' is used for months/years/long periods (in 2025, in July); 'on' for days/dates (on Monday, on 5th May); 'at' for precise times (at 5 o'clock, at noon).

21. Which prepositions follow these words: 'capable', 'composed', 'depend'?

    Capable of, composed of, and depend on/upon.

22. What is the difference between 'between' and 'among'?

    'Between' is used for two persons/things (or distinct items); 'among' is used for more than two within a group.

23. In Error Identification, what subject-verb error appears in 'One of my friends are coming'?

    The verb should be singular: 'One of my friends is coming', because the subject is 'one' (singular), not 'friends'.

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